Jay 40,305 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Amazon Music rolls out a lossless streaming tier that Spotify and Apple can’t match Quote Amazon is launching a new tier of its music service today, dubbed Amazon Music HD. It offers lossless versions of audio files for streaming or downloading at a price that aggressively undercuts Tidal, the main competition for this kind of audio. Amazon will charge $14.99 a month for the HD tier, or $12.99 if you’re an Amazon Prime customer. Tidal’s Hi-Fi plan costs $19.99 monthly. Amazon says it has a catalog of over 50 million songs that it calls “High Definition,” which is the term it’s applying to songs with CD-quality bit depth of 16 bits and a 44.1kHz sample rate. It also has “millions” (read: less than 10 million, more than one million) of songs it’s calling “Ultra HD,” which translates to 24-bit with sample rates that range from 44.1kHz up to 192kHz. Amazon Music HD will deliver them all in the lossless FLAC file format, instead of the MQA format that Tidal uses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Dimitrescu 9,117 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Yeah but do they use dynamic range in their mastering? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 40,305 Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 Amazon isn't re-mastering anything, they are re-selling what their vendors provide them bollemanneke 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Shark 13,741 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Several streaming services have already offered CD quality for years. Sunshine Reger and Loert 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmilson 9,445 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Great! But how is their catalogue of film and game scores? I use mostly Spotify, and it is quite good, even though they don't have some older scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Dutton 7,663 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Amazon Music sucks anyway. Now it'll suck in lossless. Jurassic Shark and The Illustrious Jerry 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine Reger 3,612 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Spotify has a quality of an up to 320kbps AAC via the desktop Spotify app and on a premium account. CD quality it is not. I am not complaining though, because back in Ferbruary I still listened to everything (except a handful of CDs) at a 96kbps mutant quality of Youtube and knew no better. I don't think Spotify is the right option to anyone who is not a poor-ass student like myself. Guys at TalkClassical mostly use some classical-specific services that also have a broad repertoire. Spotify is in this weird spot where it has film music, but only OSTs and not expansions, and also lacks some rarae aves. I wonder whether those "songs" Amazons writes about include songs by John Williams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Dutton 7,663 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Amazon Music is available in a very limited form with your Prime subscription but it's so bad I just opted for a Spotify subscription. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Shark 13,741 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 In the Moonlight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 40,305 Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 8 minutes ago, Edmilson said: Great! But how is their catalogue of film and game scores? I use mostly Spotify, and it is quite good, even though they don't have some older scores. I think the Amazon library and Spotify library is roughly equivalent Edmilson 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holko 10,750 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Do the things that are only available in horrible warbly quality on spotify suck on amazon, too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 40,305 Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 Probably not. But you could find out via listening to free samples Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holko 10,750 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 The low quality mp3 samples on the store page? Jurassic Shark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 40,305 Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 I mean, like I said, they are just re-selling what the music labels give them. The music labels either gave them faulty audio - which would be apparent on the samples - or they didn't. They are not altering the audio, like Spotify does Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Rick 1,246 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 I just received an email for a 90 day free trial, I'm assuming since I'm a Prime member already. I have until November to start the trial, so I'll probably pull the trigger then to have some listening to do over the holidays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bollemanneke 3,708 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 I'm still very happy with my VBR MP3 collection. 1977 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bespinGPT 8,911 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Here —> ? Or here? <— The Illustrious Jerry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard P 4,375 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 I supposed they're aiming this at people whose primary music source is streaming. What I'd really like to see is all of Amazon's digital music downloadable in lossless, but clearly that won't happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post bespinGPT 8,911 Posted September 17, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted September 17, 2019 Edmilson, SteveMc, MikeH and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocodile 8,739 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 90 day trial membership for new members... Hmm, why not? Karol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,647 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 As i suspected, nothing on the german Amazon page indicates HD or UltraHD. The whole page looks like garden in dire need of a lawnmower so you wouldn't find it even if it was there. Brundlefly and Jurassic Shark 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bayesian 1,448 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Is lossless audio truly that much better than 256 or 320 mp3? I have so much music in the latter format (or lower quality even). I couldn’t even contemplate trying to bring my collection up to lossless. I guess it’s a moot point for me, actually, since I don’t see myself converting anytime soon. The effort would take too long and cost too much. It was the same with SACDs back in the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Dimitrescu 9,117 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 By the time I could afford the gear for SACD playback, they hardly make them anymore and my hearing was fucked! Jurassic Shark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,647 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 4 minutes ago, Bayesian said: I guess it’s a moot point for me, actually, since I don’t see myself converting anytime soon. The effort would take too long and cost too much. It was the same with SACDs back in the day. The catch with iTunes once was that they converted your whole library - if available in their catalogue - to better quality once you joined them. Now with streaming content that's not likely but they still have to give you an option of playback when you are offline so i wouldn't rule the library thing out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Dutton 7,663 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 10 hours ago, ATXHusker said: I just received an email for a 90 day free trial, I'm assuming since I'm a Prime member already. I have until November to start the trial, so I'll probably pull the trigger then to have some listening to do over the holidays. That's the catch. I get Music through my Prime subscription but it's like a basic free version. Most music is locked and requires another membership status. Preposterous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Dimitrescu 9,117 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 I demand an explanation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Shark 13,741 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Money. It's all about money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Dutton 7,663 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 The economics of the future are somewhat different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus 5,494 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 I don't get the appeal personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Dimitrescu 9,117 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Lossy compression artifacts can make music more charming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Dutton 7,663 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 I don't have any issue with the sound quality of Spotify. What's important is not getting music streaming in lossless, but getting it streaming at all. The soundtrack genre has a ridiculous amount of albums that now exist in a sort of limbo due to rights or whatever. You can't find them on streaming services. Where's the fucken Rocketeer, Masters of the Universe, Star Treks, all that stuff. 1977 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Shark 13,741 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 On Youtube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Dimitrescu 9,117 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Guess I'll have to buy the White Album again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocodile 8,739 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 48 minutes ago, Quintus said: I don't get the appeal personally. It's more about the principle than the actual difference it would make to your everyday life. I have no problems with listening to music in lossy quality. In fact that is what I use on my (now ancient) iPod. But if you pay a monthly subscription in 2019 having access to high quality streaming should be a given. So yeah, I'm willing to give it a try. Karol - who will probably cancel his Spotify subscription should this new service catch on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Shark 13,741 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 I recently started an IDAGIO subscription. Not much film music there, as it focuses on classical music. But it's good, and everything's in CD quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toothless 987 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 I don’t want to switch again but this is tempting. I can always tell the difference between lossy and lossless and I will never understand how you could not hear the difference. And I’m not even using a fancy DAC! Just a good pair of headphones! Audio Technica ATH-MSR7b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine Reger 3,612 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 1 hour ago, toothless said: I don’t want to switch again but this is tempting. I can always tell the difference between lossy and lossless and I will never understand how you could not hear the difference. And I’m not even using a fancy DAC! Just a good pair of headphones! Audio Technica ATH-MSR7b I am not sure if equipment is that important. I can do the same with my Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000 which had 2 previous owners, are 12 years old, and look as if I found them in a junkyard. It's more about getting used to a certain fidelity, I suppose. toothless 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manakin Skywalker 5,510 Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 Honestly I have no interest in music streaming... now if Amazon sold their digital download music in lossless, that would be awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pellaeon 596 Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 I signed up for the Amazon Music HD free trial, and I was indeed able to download Jabba Flow supposedly in HD (16 bit / 44.1 kHz). However, it is not a FLAC. I have no idea what it is. It will only play in the Amazon Music app. I checked out a couple of tracks from Skywalker Symphony which I had previously purchased as MP3s, and, while I can stream them as (supposedly) HD, when I download them it is just the same old 56 kb/s MP3s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manakin Skywalker 5,510 Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 7 hours ago, Pellaeon said: I signed up for the Amazon Music HD free trial, and I was indeed able to download Jabba Flow supposedly in HD (16 bit / 44.1 kHz). However, it is not a FLAC. I have no idea what it is. It will only play in the Amazon Music app. I checked out a couple of tracks from Skywalker Symphony which I had previously purchased as MP3s, and, while I can stream them as (supposedly) HD, when I download them it is just the same old 56 kb/s MP3s. Do you know what format it is in? I'm sure there is some way to bypass the DRM. If not just right-click on the file and click "properties" (if you didn't already know that). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toothless 987 Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 It appears it's the only thread regarding Qobuz, sorry to bump it but this dropped 3 days ago: https://www.engadget.com/2019/11/11/qobuz-drops-lossy-music-streaming/ High quality audio for less Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demodex 573 Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 I don't know if my car stereo will play anything other than MP3's so that's what I'll stick with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 40,305 Posted May 17, 2021 Author Share Posted May 17, 2021 Apple Music will bring Lossless Audio to entire catalog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post bespinGPT 8,911 Posted May 17, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted May 17, 2021 Apple can kiss my a** Manakin Skywalker, Smeltington and Raiders of the SoundtrArk 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,504 Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 3 minutes ago, Bespin said: Apple can kiss my a** Is Tim Cook your type? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bespinGPT 8,911 Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 8 minutes ago, Disco Stu said: Is Tim Cook your type? No I prefer young looking blonds, a little bit idiot, exactly like you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,504 Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 I'd send you a pic, but I only text with other iPhones. No green messages allowed on my phone! Raiders of the SoundtrArk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1977 1,746 Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 3 hours ago, Jay said: Apple Music will bring Lossless Audio to entire catalog What will be the first film score released in Dolby Atmos I wonder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 40,305 Posted May 17, 2021 Author Share Posted May 17, 2021 A Zimmer, probably 1977 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brundlefly 2,399 Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 Move your ass, Spotify! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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